Nissan seeks payment delays for suppliers as it plans to cut 250 jobs at Sunderland

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Nissan has sought to delay payments to suppliers and plans to cut 250 jobs at its UK plant, as the Japanese carmaker pushes forward with sweeping restructuring measures to overcome a financial crisis.

The Yokohama-based producer of the Rogue, Leaf and Qashqai models said on Monday that some parts suppliers had been asked to accept delayed payment with interest, which would support the company’s near-term cash flow.

The car manufacturer also plans to reduce headcount by 250 people at its Sunderland plant in northern England through a voluntary redundancy scheme as part of a global push to cut 20,000 positions.

Nissan has insisted that its cash pile and credit lines of ¥2.2tn ($15bn) are robust enough to implement job cuts and plant closures but the latest moves are expected to reinforce investor concerns about its financial condition.

The company has forecast negative free cash flow for its automotive business to expand from ¥243bn at the end of March to ¥550bn by the end of June.

“With their full agreement, we have incentivised some of our valued suppliers to collaborate under more flexible payment terms, at no cost to them, in order to support free cash flow,” the company said in a statement.

Nissan’s move to shore up its cash position was first reported by Reuters. It is not uncommon in the auto industry to ask for payment delays to suppliers.

The measures come as part of a sweeping turnaround plan launched by Nissan’s new chief executive Ivan Espinosa, which involves shutting seven out of 17 plants and accelerating the company’s decision-making.

Sunderland is unlikely to be one of the factories to be closed. The cutting of 250 positions compares with 6,000 jobs at the plant and is intended to increase efficiency.

“In order to support future competitiveness, this week we are beginning discussions with some of our team in Sunderland about the opportunity to voluntarily leave Nissan,” the company said. “Our Sunderland plant remains at the forefront of our electrification strategy.”

The group has forecast an operating loss of ¥200bn in the three months ending in June and has signalled that heavy restructuring costs will result in another year of losses.

Figures released last week showed that Nissan sales maintained their downward trajectory in May, slipping 6 per cent to about 256,000 units globally.

Additional US tariffs on car imports of 25 per cent after Donald Trump entered the White House have compounded the pain for Nissan and other Japanese automakers.

Trump told Fox News on Sunday that he was determined to keep tariffs on Japanese cars because of the small number of vehicles exported from the US to Asia’s second-largest economy.